City hit six but Pep still not happy
GUTTED Ryan Burnett is facing a considerable absence from the ring — and a potential £2m loss — following his heart-breaking loss to Nonito Donaire on Saturday night in Glasgow’s SSE Hydro Arena.
Burnett sustained a slipped disc during his World bantamweight title defence with the 35-year-old Filipino, leading to his retirement as the bell sounded to start the fifth round — and loss of his WBA belt in South African rival Zolani Tete in March at Belfast’s SSE Arena.
Instead, WBO bantamweight champion Tete will now face a rejuvenated Donaire who despite the hollow ending to his victory had nevertheless demonstrated that he was once again a force at 118lb, having lost to Carl Frampton earlier this at featherweight — two divisions above bantam.
South African Tete, speaking exclusively to the Belfast Telegraph, did however offer Burnett some comfort as he starts his recovery by insisting he would still face the Belfast man once the World Boxing Super Series has concluded next summer.
Tete said: “I was absolutely shocked by what happened to Ryan but that is boxing. I felt very bad for Ryan and I was really looking forward to fighting him because he was the WBA champion and one of the best guys in the division with a beautiful style.” CONTINUED ONPAGE42 PEP Guardiola believes Manchester City are still not ‘stable’ enough defensively, despite routing Southampton 6-1 to move two points clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table.
Inspired by brilliant performances from Raheem Sterling (below) and Sergio Aguero, City piled misery on Mark Hughes’ struggling visitors with a ruthless display. Guardiola, however, was not fully satisfied and was particularly critical of his side’s defending.
Southampton were momentarily allowed a route back into the game when Danny Ings converted a first-half penalty after being tripped in the area by keeper Ederson.
“We were lucky to score the fourth goal at the last minute of the first half because I had the feeling the game was not over,” Guardiola said, referring to Sterling’s first of two goals, which re-established
City’s three-goal lead.
“We played with the ball so good but not without the ball. We were not stable behind. We concede a lot of corner kicks and with the best taker in the league (James Ward-Prowse) like Southampton had.”
When asked why he thought City were not stable, Guardiola claimed Southampton were granted too many scoring chanaces despite City’s dominance.
“I like to have that feeling that we won 6-1 and are top but at the same time we have to improve in many situations because when we arrive in the next steps of the Champions League, when you concede in those situations you are out because the level is higher.”
Chelsea moved into secondwith a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.